Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov

BELGRADE, December 2. /TASS/. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said it would be sad to hear nothing new at the meeting with the Turkish foreign minister in Belgrade.

"As regards a possible meeting with the Turkish foreign minister, in response to strong requests of the Turkish side, we are ready to envision such a meeting," Lavrov said.

"We want to understand what our Turkish partners who are insistently seeking a meeting can say in addition to what they have already said publicly," he said.

"It will be sad if we hear nothing new," Lavrov said. "But in any case, we would like to pose a few questions to the Turkish side as well, including on the attempt to distort the contents of my phone conversation with the Turkish foreign minister on November 25."

"In particular, the leaks in Turkish newspapers claim that during the conversation he proposed creating a hotline between the military departments of the Russian Federation and Turkey, and we stepped aside. It’s untrue, because such a line was created at the earliest stage of the Russian Aerospace Forces’ operation on a Russian initiative. But the Turkish side has not used the line a single time," he said.

"The leaks also claimed that during the November 25 phone conversation, Minister [Mevlut] Cavusoglu suggested establishing a coalition between the Russian Federation and Turkey to fight the Islamic State [terrorist group], and we did not display enthusiasm. It’s also untrue," Lavrov said.

"It was President [Vladimir] Putin who speaking at the UN General Assembly proposed creating a united front against terrorism," he said.